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Unofficial Writing Group

Tags: #Writing  #Writing Group  #Writing Circle 
  • Member
    November 7, 2018

    Hi, I'm Delta.

     

    I've been in this forum?/blog?/fansite? for years and what I'm want to get out of this site is to hone my writing skills by writing fan fiction set in The Elder Scrolls universe. Okay enough beating around bush, let's get to it:

     

    I want to set up a Writing Group.

     

    Or at the very least, a hub of sorts for critiques. What is a writing group? A writing group or writing circle is a group of like-minded writers needing support for their work, either through writing peer critiques, workshops or classes, or just encouragement (Copied from Wikipedia) and with what I have in mind lies more within the critiques. Yes there has been writing groups in Tamriel Vault in the past but I don't think they're 'strict' enough. Strict in the sense that there's no hard structure to go around helping each other and so it's rather vague.

     

    So anyway what I propose is that we set up a system where whenever we posted a story in this thread or as a blog, people who have joined the group should/must? go over and critically analyse the work.

     

    Rules (For the reviewee):

    1. Shut up and listen.

    Do not defend yourself (I meant X/You missed Y). This one is going to be really hard because well, we put our time, sweat, and blood into our works and of course we want to protect our baby but if we want to get better at writing, we have to sit down and eat that bitter pill. What we ought to do is not take criticism as a personal attack but as an opporunity to grow stronger.

     

    If the critic says X is boring, ask yourself 'Oh. What aspect(s) of X made the critic find it boring'?

     

    Also don't be afraid on asking for more or focused feedback.

     

    2. Not all criticism is made equal

    You don't have to listen to every criticism and advice you come across. This is one of the hardest part of taking criticism: learning where to pick and chose which criticsm is most helpful to you.

     

    3. Nothing personal

    When it's your turn on the firing line, understand that the people taking aim are just like you: writers and readers who just want you to get better at your craft and no someone with a vendetta against you (hopefully). So don't take it personally: it's fine if someone doesn't like your work, after all it could just be that they're not the intended audience.

     

    Rules (For the reviewers):

    1. No vague feedback

    No more 'It's good/bad' or 'Liked it/Hated it' because that really doesn't tell the author anything other than the surface details and feedbacks tend to highlight symptoms and than the disease. For example saying 'This part was boring' could mean a lot of thing from 'the pacing here is too slow for my tastes' to 'the prose is too obtuse' to 'I didn't have my morning tea and the caffeine withdrawal is getting to me'.

     

    Instead go 'The past 5 chapters were building up to an eventual climax but what happened in this chapter was more build up. This makes me get bored of waiting for a climax that may or may not happen.' Something like that.

     

    2. Prioritise feedback

    We all have our pet peeves. One of mine is the 'your/you're' mistake. Some people may not care and I will bring it up but focus on the core issues first, the highlights and then the nitpicks if any.

     

    Criticism is really helpful because it helps the author gain a different perspective as to how to view your work. Come on, don't tell me it doesn't happen to you: what makes perfect sense to you when read in your head sounds really stupid when someone else reads it out loud.

     

    3. Nothing personal

    Writers are already staking quite a bit by standing on the firing line so don't make it personal. Remember as a critic we should be helping them, not tearing them down to make ourselves feel better. Empathise that the author has their own vision on how the story ought to go, so when making suggestions try to along with what the author is tryig to do in the first place. Don't make things personal with 'Why did you do this?' or 'I would do-'. Keep the focus on the story and not the author, keeping in impersonal will make it more likely that the author will listen to you.

     

    Respect that behind the work that there is a person with their own dreams and lives... And none of this BS on 'I'm rude because I'm honest!' That's just an excuse and you know it!

     

    4. Don't be an arse

    The Internet is already a mean place, we don't need to make it worse. Sure being mean can be fun but everyone will get a turn. That said your reviews don't have to be kind - I'd argue far from it. We are taught to be kind but what this means for the critic is that it makes us tiptoe aroud the elephant because we don't have to hurt people's feelings and criticism hurts. A lot but if all they hear are niceties, people can't improve because they don't know if anythign is going wrong. Be harsh, sure but be FAIR.

     

    By signing up you're basically saying 'I'm open season for criticism. Go find my stuff and critique it. I can handle and I want that critcism.'

     

    That's it. Hope this wil help us be better writers.

     

    Works:

    Song of the Faithful (Genre: Fantasy, Action) by Delta

                   - Vigilants of Stendarr (Something to cut your teeth in)

                   - LEGACY: Vigilants of Stendarr (The old version for an easier chew. pssst. This one is pretty bad)

                   - Something to Prove

     

    The Silver Fox by A-Pocky-Hah!

     

    Legend of the Skaal by SpottedFawn

     

    GHAHR-TOK: A Doomed Garrison by Tenebrous

     

    Straag Rog: Book 1, Part 2 by Long-Chapper

     

    SUPER Resource(s):

    Brandon Sander BYU Lectures

    This is it. These lectures by fantasy writer, Brandon Sanderson was the turning point for me. It was these lectures that hoisted me, content with pretty amateur writing to want to write like the pros. Aprox. one hour per lecture, you can and I have ripped the audio out of them turning them into podcasts for the long commutes. If you are really serious about writing: watch these lectures ~ Delta

     

    Additional resources:
    http://jpbeaubien.com/terrible-writing-advice-chapter-16-taking-criticism/
    http://jpbeaubien.com/terrible-writing-advice-chapter-23-giving-criticism/

    https://www.janefriedman.com/dangers-of-writing-groups/

     

    How To Train Your Internal Editor

    Helping Writers Become Authors

    Dan Wells' Seven Point Story Structure

    https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/

    Wisecrack - Youtube While it mainly focuses on film, Wisecrack does offer pretty good insight on storytelling. I'd recommend their video on The Matrix: Reloaded as a starter.

     

    Filmento - Youtuve Again this one mainly focuses on film but like Wisecrack, Filmento does offer a good insight on storytelling as well. The analysis on Wonder Woman is a nice place to start when learning about internal/external conflict.

     

  • Member
    November 7, 2018
    Pocks' here, I actually had this kind of idea going around in my head when I first posted my Writer's Discuss on Reviewing Stories (can't post the link since I'm on mobile). I like the idea, but I'm also wary about it. Not many of us here are deep critical story analyzers and trying to analyze a story takes time, especially if said story is incomplete. It is possible to do a story analysis on story arcs or short stories, but sometimes those things tie in with the writer's main series (hence why I prefer stand-alone episodic stories). Still having a writing group is a good idea and I think some people here could benefit from the criticism, whether it be good or bad (unless the latter has no valid points).
  • Member
    November 7, 2018

    A-Pocky-Hah! said:Not many of us here are deep critical story analyzers and trying to analyze a story takes time, especially if said story is incomplete.

     

    We all have to start somewhere right? And it doesn't have to be an analysis of the whole product: just bit by bit.

     

    From experience I have people go 'What does this mean? I'm confused' at an earlier chapter and that was the exact response I want from them. Also doing baby steps helps us iron out our fundamentals.

  • Member
    November 7, 2018
    Yeah, I liked that. Doing bit by bit is a good way to discuss a story character. Maybe have something like an initial character review then a revised one after the character has been fleshed out a few chapters later. A lot of times I want people to discuss about what they like or find interesting when I post a story. I've gotten some nice feedback on my recent story (granted it was a draft) which I'll save as future reference.
  • Member
    November 7, 2018

    A-Pocky-Hah! said: Yeah, I liked that. Doing bit by bit is a good way to discuss a story character. Maybe have something like an initial character review then a revised one after the character has been fleshed out a few chapters later. A lot of times I want people to discuss about what they like or find interesting when I post a story. I've gotten some nice feedback on my recent story (granted it was a draft) which I'll save as future reference.

     

    So if you're in, do post the exact work that you're willing to put it on the line.

  • Member
    November 7, 2018
    Yeah.. I wish I could do that, but as of right now, I need to prioritize on my real life problems first before I can even start a review, let alone continue on writing.
  • Member
    November 7, 2018

    A-Pocky-Hah! said: Yeah.. I wish I could do that, but as of right now, I need to prioritize on my real life problems first before I can even start a review, let alone continue on writing.

     

    Retro reviewing your older stuff is helpful. I knew it helped me when I did it to my older stuff. But yeah, hope to get people in this bandwagon.

  • Member
    November 8, 2018

    @Pocky: Which of your works would you say represents 'Pocky-style' the most?

  • Member
    November 9, 2018

    Delta said:

    @Pocky: Which of your works would you say represents 'Pocky-style' the most?

    Hmm... Hard to say since my writing style has changed over the months. I think the closest thing that resembles my current writing style would be The Silver Fox.

    For now I'm sticking with a writing style that's similar to Sotek's Union of the Wolf, but emphasizes on short paragraphs (no longer than eight lines if possible) with dialogues being separate from the speaker and having no interruptions.

    For example:

    The two men could clearly see the disappointment on James' face towards them as he hung his head low at the desk. He took several deep breaths in an attempt to quell the rage he had boiling inside of him before he said slowly,

    "You two had one job... One simple job... How the hell did you managed to fucking blow up an entire warehouse?!"

    The two menQuincy and Tombriefly exchanged sideward glances before they pointed a finger at each other and exclaimed in unison.

    ""He did it, not me!!""

     

     

  • Member
    November 9, 2018

    @Pocky: I'll start dissecting The Fox but shall put it on the list?